Considered to be one of the first mature ("psychological") Westerns in the post-WWII era, Henry Koster's The Gunfighter features Gregory Peck in top form, as an aging, over the hill gunslinger, who wants to lay down his gun but may be doomed.
Gunfighter, The (1950): Henry King’s Adult Psychological Western, Starring Gregory Peck (Role Rejected by John Wayne)
October 1, 2009 by
Movie Genres: War Films–Conventions, Values, and Myths
August 12, 2008 by
In these articles, American war films are analyzed thematically, in terms of unit-ideas that deal with basic issues: individual versus community, community versus society, stability versus change, integration versus anomie, the sacred versus the profane, and the public versus the private domain. These core ideas, stated as conceptual opposites (theses and anti-theses), have recurred in most WWII films.
Big Jim McLain: John Wayne, Right-Winger, Communism-Hater, with Nancy Olson, James Arness
May 26, 2006 by
The name of John Wayne's special agent, Jim McLain, had the same initials as that of Senator Joseph McCarthy, which was seen by many as more than a coincidence, since he made the film while serving as president of the Motion Picture Alliance.
